Many have scoffed at what we believed was a bad pour. Referring to it as an ice cream head with far too much foam and not enough in the way of liquid gold.
I still remember my time working in pubs across England and being told by customers to, “fill it up” if there was anything more than a 5mm head of foam in the glass. It turns out that we were wrong. I mean, who’s going to argue with the brewery that invented the Pilsner and has been pouring beer this way for 175 years? Not me…..
One of the biggest complaints Home Brewers have when it comes to pouring beer, is too much foam. There are forums suggesting fixes with everything from using longer tubes and dropping beer temperatures, to reducing co2 pressure for a slower pour. Maybe it’s meant to be that way for a reason.
It turns out that the foam seals in aroma and flavour while protecting the beer against oxidation. Oxidation changes the taste of your beer, and there is nothing worse than bad tasting beer right?
Pilsner Urquell has a 3 pour method
- The Smooth Pour
- The Crisp Pour
- The Milk Pour
After trying the smooth and the crisp pour, I have to say, the flavour of the beer does differ.
The three pours are explained in this video